Fair Price

First came months of feeding and grooming, then the judging the past few days at the Ventura County Fair, and finally, on Friday, the big event. The Junior Livestock Auction drew more than 400 nervous youths, all dressed in spotless white 4-H and Future Farmers of America uniforms, showing off cows, pigs, chickens, sheep and goats, and hoping to get top dollar. Once sold, the next stop for many of the animals will be the slaughterhouse.

ORLANDO, Fla. - The San Diego Padres expect to retain third baseman Chase Headley, a person familiar with the team's thinking said Sunday at baseball's winter meetings. Headley is eligible for free agency after next season. He and the Padres have made little progress toward a long-term extension, even though he has said he would prefer to stay in San Diego and the Padres have said they would like to keep him. However, setting a fair price appears to be a challenge , given that Headley was one of the best players in the National League in 2012 and slumped badly in 2013 . The concern over which Headley another team might get has stalled trade talks as well.

Preparing for a freeze on cable television rates to end in November, the Oxnard City Council today will consider taking the first step to regulate the city's cable TV operator under a new federal law. City officials said they are interested in obtaining regulatory powers to improve local programming and guarantee fair prices from Jones Intercable, which serves 35,500 households in the city.

I value money, but when it comes to the hassle of selling “stuff” online, all that comes to my mind is “Ain't nobody got time for that,” as intoned by YouTube viral sensation Sweet Brown. While you are reading this, my iPhone 4 and aviator Ray-Ban sunglasses are collecting dust on my desk. I know the items would sell, but it takes valuable time to figure out how much I should charge, find a buyer, and then box and ship them. Why can't selling be just as easy as buying online?

The Chinese have made their mark on the cuisine of practically every country in Asia. Even Thailand. Thailand is about the only Asian country never officially conquered by anybody (although the Burmese practically burned the place to the ground in the 17th Century). But it seems that the Chinese conquer from within, at least when it comes to cuisine. So don't be surprised if the exotic allure of Fair Price, a neighborhood restaurant in Northridge, seems a little compromised.

Your editorial "Eagles are Riches, Too" (March 8) appears to lean heavily on Graham to sell his property at less than fair-market value in order to save the eagles. Most of us would agree that those eagles are priceless and must be protected. Let's all accept the responsibility of that protection and not try to impose it upon Graham by suggesting that he receive less than a fair price. Surely we Californians can afford to share the burden of saving these eagles by doing the right and honest thing--paying Graham a fair price for his land!

I value money, but when it comes to the hassle of selling “stuff” online, all that comes to my mind is “Ain't nobody got time for that,” as intoned by YouTube viral sensation Sweet Brown. While you are reading this, my iPhone 4 and aviator Ray-Ban sunglasses are collecting dust on my desk. I know the items would sell, but it takes valuable time to figure out how much I should charge, find a buyer, and then box and ship them. Why can't selling be just as easy as buying online?

Will guys go online-only to shave a few bucks off the cost of the morning shave? Harry's is banking on it. The Harry's website , which went live on March 14, offers a simple lineup: two styles of razor handle, exactly one four-blade cartridge option and precisely one kind of shaving cream. The sales pitch is just as straightforward: "Great Shave. Fair Price. " And that's not a stretch. Depending on which razor handle you choose, a starter kit that includes a handle, three cartridges and a tube of shaving cream sells for $15 or $25. Co-founded by Andy Katz-Mayfield and Warby Parker co-founder Jeff Raider, Harry's is hardly novel in trying to lower the cost of the morning shave by bypassing bricks-and-mortar retail ( Dollar Shave Club is one company that comes to mind)

Re "Muscling Your Way Into a Free Massage," June 26. I am writing to thank you for your interest in our profession and your kind comments. However, I wish to clarify several misleading statements. The article's title and theme of free massages: Touch Therapy Institute occasionally offers massages gratis but only to acquaint prospective students with the course. We do not give free massages to the public. People wishing student or certified therapeutic massage may make an appointment, at a fair price.

Will guys go online-only to shave a few bucks off the cost of the morning shave? Harry's is banking on it. The Harry's website , which went live on March 14, offers a simple lineup: two styles of razor handle, exactly one four-blade cartridge option and precisely one kind of shaving cream. The sales pitch is just as straightforward: "Great Shave. Fair Price. " And that's not a stretch. Depending on which razor handle you choose, a starter kit that includes a handle, three cartridges and a tube of shaving cream sells for $15 or $25. Co-founded by Andy Katz-Mayfield and Warby Parker co-founder Jeff Raider, Harry's is hardly novel in trying to lower the cost of the morning shave by bypassing bricks-and-mortar retail ( Dollar Shave Club is one company that comes to mind)

Alvin Roth earned his 2012 Nobel Prize in economics for market design and matching theory - creating ways to pair "buyers" and "sellers" happily and fairly when price isn't a primary consideration. For instance? Kidney exchanges, in which cost can't legally play a role but donors and recipients with just the right assets and needs still must find each other. Roth's algorithms can be used to make good matches in even the thorniest situations: bringing the lovelorn together with potential mates, and bringing together the right charter and public schools with the right students.

Might want to get your fill of ham this year, because "a world shortage of pork and bacon next year is now unavoidable," according to an industry trade group. Blame the drought conditions that blazed through the corn and soybean crop this year. Less feed led to herds declining across the European Union “at a significant rate,” according to the National Pig Assn. in Britain . And the trend “is being mirrored around the world,” according to a release ( hat tip to the Financial Times)

On a mission to suss out the Santa Monica gastropub the Yard , I'd invited a friend who'd lived in the neighborhood way back when but had since moved away. As we negotiated the crowds streaming past us on Broadway a couple of blocks from Ocean Avenue, she looked around wonderingly. Past the sad shops selling touristy T-shirts and gewgaws, a grim bodega and a clutch of people asking for spare change, she grew quiet. None of this was here before, she said. Santa Monica just didn't have this ?

Aries (March 21-April 19): What you think about your friends may have been true, but it's time for another look. Everyone in your circle is evolving, maturing and becoming more interesting. Taurus (April 20-May 20): Your random recollections add color and spice to your current scene. Fall in love with the way your mind works — other people have. Gemini (May 21-June 21): There is no denying that you have been shaped by your physical body, your relationships and your socioeconomic circumstances.

SQUEEZED into a narrow storefront on a touristy block of the Sunset Strip, the tiny (36-seat) Amarone resembles a North Beach trattoria in its physical layout with just four tables downstairs and another handful located up a steep staircase on the mezzanine. But unlike those time-worn attic-like San Francisco spots, Amarone Kitchen & Wine is new and fresh and wonderfully date-worthy, with white tablecloths and handsome tableware.

Efforts to save the Renaissance Pleasure Faire site got a boost when county Supervisor Mike Antonovich told fair supporters that he will help them obtain the Agoura property for parkland if they meet financial conditions. Antonovich met this week with Renaissance Faire supporters who brought him almost 15,000 letters urging the Board of Supervisors to deny permission to build a proposed housing development on the land.

Borden Inc. announced a plan today to deter a takeover of the food and chemical company at less than what it considers a fair price by ensuring that Borden's top 25 managers will quit if that price isn't met. "We think any potential raider would think twice about losing that group at once," said Romeo J. Ventres, Borden's chairman and chief executive officer. He said he believed that banks and investment houses would be reluctant to loan money or raise funds for such a raider.

We live in an age of supercomputer-driven, lightning-fast digital technology that can determine the time of day down to the nanosecond. So why do shipping companies routinely round up package weights to the nearest pound? How come cellphone companies round up calls to the nearest minute? How many millions of dollars are these companies pocketing annually by charging you for nothing? Newport Beach resident Khalil Jaber found himself asking these questions after going over some recent FedEx bills.

Many U.S. mutual funds are not using a "fair value" pricing method that market regulators have been urging the fund industry to adopt for years as a way to combat abusive market timing, officials said Wednesday. Nearly a third of 960 mutual funds surveyed by the Securities and Exchange Commission hadn't used "fair value" pricing in the 20 months ended last September, the SEC said.